Zwischen
by sweetcheesecake
Summary: She dreams of haunting things, and most disturbingly, her own death. Team Avatar, now Aangless, are on a quest to save the world and a strange waterbender who has the ability to help them but also a secret that could destroy them all.
1. A Breath

Each step you take brings you farther away; for each step, a crack in my glass heart.

We present to you will much love

**Zwischen**

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_Push_

_Pull_

_Twist_

_Glide_

_Focus your attention on the water_

_Easy…easy…_

_SLAM_

"OWW!"

"HAHA! Gotcha!"

_And the world tumbled down_

"I'M GONNA GET YOU KAITO!!!!!!"

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After the snowball fight had ensued and finished with a draw, a young girl struggled to brush off the clingy snow from her clothes that were starting to become thoroughly soaked. The cold was seeping in and but she did not shiver from the chill.

Her stature was petite, probably resulting from her malnutrition in her childhood years. Her skin was a paler tone than her friend's, but now rosy from the cold. Her face, hauntingly beautiful, looked like a porcelain doll and held the most peculiar set of eyes, a glowing gray blue that would fade occasionally to a warm, golden amber. She wore the traditional waterbending garb but lacked the heavy, warm coat that her friend wore. She did not mind the cold.

"Here, lemme help you with that!" Kaito smiled mischievously, seeing the struggles of his friend. Then he pulled pack into a familiar stance. The girl's eyes widened in alarm.

"Wait!" To no avail she shouted. She was blown over by her friend who blew air effortlessly toward her, blowing the snow off but at the same time, chilling her to the bone. She was left lying there, shivering and glaring up at the blue sky above her until Kaito's head came into view and blocked out the light. She shot a dirty look at his handsome face and lively blue eyes. His long, brown hair covered them slightly when he shifted.

"Whoops, sorry about that. Let's dry you off!"

Long, dark hair whipped wildly around the chilled girl as Kaito once again bended air at her, but this time drying her clothes. Once he finished, she stayed lying there, looking up. Kaito smiled cheekily down at her until he started getting annoyed at her silence. He frowned.

"Hey, aren't you gonna dry me off?!"

She stared blankly at him.

"Awww, c'mon. We help each other out! Dry me off!"

She cracked a smile. "You asked for it."

She threw herself up in a back flip, forcing him to step back, and landed lightly on her feet. Her eyes darkened and the boy grinned in anticipation. "Get ready to be toasty warm!" She pulled back into the unfamiliar stance and then suddenly without warning, leaped at the tall boy. She grinned when she saw the surprise on his face before they collided and tumbled to the ground.

_You know I hate to choose._

"UUNGH! OW! What was that for?!" Kaito sputtered, breathing heavily from where he lay under his friend's small body. He blushed slightly as she grinned down at him.

"I just won!" she cried, smiling foolishly.

She grabbed him into a bear hug, feeling the cold from his body but not minding.

_The cold soothes my burn._

"Hey, you cheater!"

He twisted until she was under him. And then a wrestling match broke out, the two children laughing and crying out with happiness, struggling to end up on top. Finally, Kaito gave up. He untangled himself from her and rolled himself in the snow, bending the snow so that it would stay with him, spinning and spinning until he was done.

"Hey, look! I'm a snowman!" He exclaimed.

The disheveled girl let out a laugh and set out to decorate him. The orphan busied herself, trying desperately to forget the war ensuing outside her home, and the war fought inside of herself.

_But without light, I die._

She smiled sadly at Kaito.

_What would you have chosen, mother, father?_

Her eyes slid past him, resting on the setting sun in the horizon. Kaito stopped, recognizing the signs of his friend's inner conflict pushing through. Her gray-blue eyes were distant and far away, darkening as she remembered painful memories. The sun fell on a unique angle upon her face and the girl truly made a dazzling picture. "She just doesn't realize it," he thought, shaking his head. He let the snow fall off him and took her small hand. Her eyes slid back to him, questioning.

"Let's go home."

_Fire or ice?_

She gripped his hand tightly and they turned as one toward the water village, their home.

_I choose…_

_choose…_

_ne?_

_ne?_

_ne?_

**Fire and Ice**

Some say the world will end in fire,  
Some say in ice.  
From what I've tasted of desire  
I hold with those who favor fire.  
But if it had to perish twice,  
I think I know enough of hate  
To say that for destruction ice  
Is also great  
And would suffice.

Robert Frost

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**ZWISCHEN**

_Avatar State!_

_Zzzzzzzt_

_Let her go_

_I'm sorry, Katara…_

_Lightning?_

_Zzzzzzt_

_Zzzzzzzt_

_Falling…_

…………_._

_It hurts._

_AANG!!_

_NOOOOO!!!!_

"Katara, is he going to make it?" Sokka asked anxiously, peering nervously over her shoulder as she worked desperately over the figure of a small boy, arrows on his head, arms and legs, and with a huge gaping hole in his back. Toph stayed back, claiming the situation contained too much drama, but really worring she would interfere with the intense healing that Katara was trying to carry out. Appa let out a low moan, showing his anxiety while Momo hovered nervously, much like Sokka.

Katara did not answer, crying silently as she struggled to bring Aang back. She had used her spirit water from the spirit oasis but it was no help. His seventh charka path was blocked but it should not have been a fatal wound when she had used her healing water to aid him. What was wrong?

_Why am I so weak? Why? _She thought, slamming her water into Aang, trying unsuccessfully to bring him from death's gate. 18 minutes and he had still not woken up. Her tears dropped on Aang's pale face. One landed on his arrow. It glowed.

Katara gasped, shifting back. Aang opened his eyes and they glowed a bright blue also. He opened his mouth, and the voices of the avatars spoke.

**The Avatar will be no more.**

"No!" Katara gasped. Sokka stared with pain in his eyes at Aang, and Toph turned away from the voice.

**But the world will not burn. Listen carefully.**

Katara's head was bent in grief, but Sokka looked up at the sky, determination creeping in and Toph slowly turned back towards Aang. She closed her eyes and let her other sense take control.

**The Avatar will be no more, but the tradition is not lost. The next element in the cycle is water. The world's only hope is a water bender who has the ability to bend all four elements. She will have no Avatar state to help her, but she is strong. However, she fights two wars, your war, and her war. She has a great power residing inside her but you must find her and help her to overcome the fire within her before it consumes her and destroys the world.**

The avatar's voice ended on the ominous note and Aang's glow faded. However, his eyes remained open. Sokka stood there in shock.

"Ka-tara," Aang whispered.

Katara's head snapped up as she looked at Aang with tears in her eyes. "Aang!"

Aang smiled shakily and put his hand over hers. "Look for her," he said. He inhaled painfully and spoke again. "Start in fire nation. My friend-."

Aang was cut off by a sudden, relentless bout of coughing.

"Aang!" Katara worriedly cried, pushing more healing water into him. More tears came to her eyes as she fiercely tried to hold them in.

"It's okay, Katara. We'll meet again," Aang said, managing to shoot her a grin. Katara tried hard to hide her pain, and flashed him a hesitant, answering smile.

"Yes," She said tearfully, hugging him tightly. "Yes, we will." She did not want him to go. And she did not believe him.

Toph felt the disturbance in the young waterbender and frowned. "Katara, let him talk. We need the information if you don't want Aang's death to be in vain," She said in a flat voice.

Sokka flinched and Katara whirled around to glare at her. How could she say that while Aang was dieing? But then Katara assessed Toph's face and saw her pain also.

Aang had offered Toph freedom from her overbearing parents, parents who hid her from the outside world in order to protect her. Aang made her feel strong and capable, instead of how most felt when blind. Katara understood then that she was not the only one who felt loss and reluctantly nodded her apologies.

The group turned again towards Aang as he made another attempt to speak through his pain.

"My…friend. Fire nation. His…grandchild married. Good person, died," Aang spoke slowly, losing breath.

Katara held onto him tightly, refusing to let go.

"Remember. She is…ice and fire…" Aang said, finally, his eyes slipping shut, taking in the faces of his friends, and lastly his love. Her blue eyes shimmering with tears held his sadly. Her bottom lip quivered and he could not help but feel sadness.

_I won't say goodbye yet._

_I'll be there for you when you need me._

_Just you wait and see._

But his eyelids grew heavily and they unwillingly slid shut.

Katara held her breath. They did not open.

The crushed girl stopped her healing and looked at the peaceful face of Aang. Her eyes slipped shut, and she kissed him lightly on the cheek, and whispered goodbye.

"I'll avenge you, Aang," she thought. "I'll kill them all," she thought murderously.

Her eye's opened, and they were a blazing blue. She could almost see the lightening that struck Aang.

"Azula_. _You're _dead_."

_dead_

_dead_

_dead_

……_._

_-_

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_She's freezing. Shivering_

_Crying_

_zzzzzzzzt_

_A beautiful woman looking down at her…_

_Blue eyes_

_A tall, dark man…golden eyes. They are full of love._

_Warmth_

_We love you_

_We love you_

_We-_

_zzzzzzzzzzt_

_Someone arguing. Someone's angry. Why?_

"_You must choose. Which one do you love more?"_

_Tears_

…………

_Daddy? Daddy!_

_Red. Red everywhere. It's warm. Is it…fire?_

_Mother? Mother? Why is the snow red?_

_There's so much…_

_Blood_

Haine woke up suddenly with a scorching fire within her, burning her from the inside out, causing her to writhe in pain. She twisted and jerked sharply, lying on her bed, waiting the pain out. After a few moments, her body relaxed and she remained limp, exhausted and overwhelmed. Beads of sweat ran down her face as she lay on her right side and she closed her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep again.

She had always hated that dream, the nightmare that refused to stop haunting her. It was always accompanied with the burning in her chest. But this time, the heat had been more intense, and there was a new occurrence in the dream.

A young man of tall height and dark, black hair like her own had appeared. His unmarred skin was a perfect ivory color that clashed with darkness around him. He had looked down at her with his golden eyes, reminding her of her father's. His eyes were filled with sadness and pain, but when she looked closer, she could see something in his reflection.

Haine sighed; the pain had left her feeling drowsy and warm. She could not remember anything more and decided not to dwell on the dream. As time passes by, she slowly slipped into slumber again.

But dreamless sleep would not last her for long; her nightmare came back in clear focus.

Haine dreamed again. Of the beautiful boy with sad golden eyes. He seemed so lonely.

Again, she was staring up into his eyes. This time, the image he was seeing was clearer and sharper.

There was a young woman, sleeping. She was curled on her side, her face slightly covered by the shadows. She was rather beautiful, but her skin was an unhealthy pale. The woman had long, dark hair swirling around her body. On closer inspection, Haine noticed she was not breathing and her locks were limp against her heart shaped face.

_Mother?_

Haine reached for her, intending to shake her awake, to help her, but instead of touching skin she felt something wet and cool.

She looked down.

Blood on her hands.

She was frozen in shock until she smelled the disturbing scent of burning flesh.

_No…_

She quickly reached for the woman and turned the woman's face toward her.

Haine woke up with a choked gasp.

It was not her mother that was dead.

It was _her_.

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………

They play tug of war on my heartstrings and I can't help but hate being in between.


	2. Enter

How can it be possible that even in death, you look beautiful?

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Feast your eyes on

**Zwischen**

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Zuko was deeply disappointed. He had expected to feel proud, the signs of his returning honor. He was going back home, was he not? His father would welcome him back with a look on his face that showed his pride for his son.

No, Zuko thought. All he had accomplished was nothing. Again, it was the prodigal Azula that had won the fight and struck down the avatar.

_Maybe I can heal your scar…_

She had offered him so much kindness he was momentarily overwhelmed by the force of her words and the meaning behind it. Would she really have healed him if she had the chance?

He frowned unconsciously. Or was it just a trick to get him to trust her? No, her words were sincere. And she had also lost her mother as a result of the war. They could sympathize with each other. But did he want her sympathy?

"No," he spoke out loud with vehemence. "I don't need anyone's pity."

"Of course you don't, Zuzu."

Zuko's eyes widened. He turned and saw Azula an arm's length away. How had he not noticed she was there? Was he too caught up in his musings so that he could not even sense a potential threat coming?

Then he berated himself. Azula was not an enemy, though his mind desperately wanted to contradict that. She was his sister, and she was taking him back to Fire Nation.

How about all those other times she tried to capture you and betray you to the Firelord? he argued with himself.

Azula tapped her foot impatiently. She did not like to be kept waiting and she was starting to get disgusted by the display of emotions her foolish brother was displaying rarely.

Her brother was displaying weakness and though she liked the idea that Zuzu was weaker than her, she needed him to appear strong for his trip back to Fire Nation. It just would not do if a highly emotionally distraught prince arrived back at home and could do nothing but cry over his past mistakes.

He was such a failure.

Azula sighed heavily and spoke, "Zuzu, stop dwelling on whatever you're worried about, I'm sure father will be just delighted to have his beloved son back," just barely holding back her sarcasm.

She sighed again. Really, her brother was such a pain.

She would make a much better Firelord than he could ever be. Why is it always the boys who get all the fame? No matter. Once father found out it was she who killed the avatar, he would be so pleased.

But wait. She frowned. Why did Zuko keep hinting that the avatar was not dead? She was sure he had struck him in a fatal spot; there was no way he could have survived.

"What if father doesn't accept me, Azula? I have no avatar coming back with me. My honor-,"

"You're honor will be restored when father finds out how you aided me in destroying the avatar. It's a much greater feat than just capturing the kid," Azula snapped. "Unless, you think he survived?" she added as an afterthought, her eyes piercing sharply into his.

Zuko glanced at Azula uncomfortably and then turned away, hiding his eyes. "No, there's no way," he said.

_This is healing water from the spirit oasis._

That waterbender was not strong enough to heal the avatar. Azula strikes to kill; nothing can survive her lightning, and the avatar did not attempt to redirect either. "Yes," he assured himself. The avatar is dead.

And with that thought in mind, he experienced more turmoil. Did he do the right thing? Was this his chosen destiny? He glanced back at the face of his younger sister and her mouth was twisted in a cruel smirk.

She had read the doubt in his eyes.

"Zuzu, stop worrying. We're going home."

Zuko nodded absently, still turned away from her.

"Oh, and I can't wait for uncle Iroh's trial. Do you think he'll be executed?" Azula said in a taunting voice.

Zuko whirled around, his eyes flashing angrily. "Father wouldn't kill his own brother!" he shouted. But his heart dropped when he saw Azula laugh with ease and wave her hand at him.

"Oh, but I would. Uncle betrayed our country, Zuko," she said with steel. "I wouldn't hesitate. Would you, Zuzu?" she said, mocking him, her eyes dancing with delight at his awkwardness.

Zuko turned away from her and almost ran the way back to his cabin. He could feel Azula's amused laugh fill the air and it sent shivers down his spine.

_Did I do the right thing?_

The captain came onto the ship's deck.

"Princess Azula, Prince Zuko," he called back toward Zuko while dipping his head respectively. "We will be arriving in Fire Nation in about 10 minutes," he informed.

Zuko took a quick glance. Land in the distance.

_Fire Nation._

_Mother. What would you have chosen?_

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_We'll meet again._

The last airbender. "He's dead," Katara thought bitterly. He's dead and she could do nothing but watch helplessly as he succumbed to the pain and died. She was weak.

She was trying to get Appa to move, but like her, Appa was still mourning the loss of his friend and master. He gave a loud roar when Katara tried to soothe him.

She shouted in frustration. "Come on, Appa, we have to go. Aang will rest peacefully here," she said, barely containing her tears.

They had managed to get Appa to fly to the Southern Air Temple, Aang's home. There, they had held a small, sad ceremony for their dear friend, the Avatar. Katara had buried her grandmother's necklace with Aang. She wanted him to have a piece of her. It was hard to part with both of them.

Sokka laid his hand on her shoulder. "Katara," he spoke softly, his voice laced with pity.

Katara snapped. "Get away from me!" she yelled, wrenching her shoulder away. Her brother's hand fell limply and his head hung down.

"Katara. I miss him too," he said, and this time, Katara could hear his voice hitch as he held back his tears.

Her eyes softened and she turned toward him. "I'm sorry, Sokka. I just…" Her eyes slid shut in an effort to stop the tears from flowing and she hung her head also.

"It's okay, Katara."

Toph came and reached up and touched Katara's face. Katara's eyes opened in shock and she looked down at her blind friend.

What she saw in her eyes made her even sadder.

"We all miss him, Katara. But this time, you don't have to take care of us. _We_ can take care of each other," Toph said, showing her rare soft side.

Sokka nodded his agreement. "Katara, you've always tried your best to do everything for the group. Don't you think you put too much burden on yourself?" Sokka pointed out.

"We want to help you, sister," he said, gently. "You are not the only one who misses him."

And he hugged his sister tightly. She was trembling softly and after a moment's breath, she wrapped her arms around him.

"Thanks, Sokka," she whispered.

"Ahem."

She let out a shaky laugh. "Toph."

She turned and yanked Toph into the group hug. "Thank you," she said with feeling.

But the group couldn't help but feel the missing presence of their beloved friend.

"Now, come on. We gotta go find whoever Aang told us to find. You know, before the world burns into ashes and all that yadda yadda?" Toph said gruffly, not used to the show of affection.

Katara released them both and swiped an arm across her eyes to wipe away the tears. When she was done, her eyes shone with a blazing determination.

"Yes. Let's find her. Let's find her and avenge Aang," she said with vehemence.

Sokka nodded. Toph moved toward Appa.

"C'mon Appa, let's do this for your buddy. Aang would have wanted this okay? So quit your moping and let's go, you giant furball," she said to Appa.

Appa gave her a blank stare and then groaned pitifully.

"Ah, well, who was I kidding? Frankly, I'll enjoy walking. I hate flying," Toph said indifferently.

Sokka glanced around him. "Well, Toph, in case you've forgotten, we're in the air. We can't get down without Appa."

Katara sighed. They had wasted enough time already. 3 days was not enough to mourn for their friend, but they had a duty to perform.

"Appa," she said gently. "We all miss Aang. But, Toph's right. Do you want Aang's death to be in vain?" she said, flinching.

Appa moaned. His tail thumped the ground.

Sokka took this as a good sign. "Come on, team Avatar. Let's go!"

He started to climb up Appa's tail, but once he had boarded, Appa drew his tail back and thumped Sokka.

"OW!"

Katara sighed and she and Toph boarded Appa also. "Thanks, Appa," she said, giving Appa and affectionate pat. Appa stood on all six and Momo hurried over to land on his head. Katara took the reins and prepared for flight.

_Fire Nation. Here we come._

After roughly hour into their trip, Sokka and Toph had both fallen asleep, leaving Katara to keep watch and fly. Momo was resting on top of Sokka's moving stomach.

She sighed forlornly, and Momo came to rest by her side.

"Hey, Momo."

Momo screeched softly and circled Katara a few times. Katara smiled softly.

"Are you sad that Aang isn't here?"

Momo stared up at her with soulful eyes.

"Yeah, I am too."

Momo pointed at his mouth.

A vein throbbed on Katara's head. "Sorry, Momo, I don't have any food."

Momo stared and then returned to Sokka, resting himself on Sokka's face. Sokka's nose twitched and then his mouth curved up in a smile. He rolled over, reaching up to grab Momo's tail, pull and crush the lemur to his chest. Momo screeched shrilly.

"Mmmm, Suki…" he mumbled.

Momo squeaked indignantly. He struggled to no avail, only finding that Sokka would squeeze him tighter. He chattered angrily when Sokka brought Momo up to his face.

The perplexed lemur was greeted by a set of puckered lips.

Momo, bruised and finally provoked, bit down hard on Sokka's nose.

"AHHHHHH!"

Katara turned, startled by the exclamation.

Sokka rolled around randomly, trying to free himself of the angered lemur and accidentally rolled onto Toph. Toph bolted upright, punching Sokka in the gut.

_Ouch._

Sokka felt his breath leave him.

"Uh, huh….huh…ha…ohhhh…"

"Huh?" Toph swiveled her head around, confused.

"Eww, ahhh, haa, huh, huh, huh!" shrieked Sokka as he struggled to free himself of the clingy lemur. He finally pulled Momo off with a resounding POP and he felt his eyes water.

"MOMO!!!!!"

Momo screeched shrilly at him and huffed before flying over to Katara.

Katara grinned unconsciously.

Sokka glared at the furry creature and then his smirking sister.

Why is it always me, he thought.

Toph blew the bangs out of her face, snorted and lay back down, with Sokka following suit. He struggled to slip into dreamland and found himself dreaming of Suki just a few moments later.

He saw her back profile and sighed dreamily when he saw her red hair ripple with the wind. He reached for her…

And a set of huge, overlarge ears burst out from her head.

EHH??!

When he grabbed her and turned her around, she had the face of a furry lemur.

He cringed back.

NOOOOOOOOO!!

"AHHHHHHH, HUH, HUH, HAH, AHHHHH……."

Katara watched amusedly as Sokka foamed at the mouth in his sleep.

Toph, annoyed at his consistent screaming bonked him on the head.

"HEY, OWW! SUKI! Why would you punch me?"

"Put a sock in it, lemur boy," Toph grunted, lying back down.

"That evil Momo brainwashed you, didn't it?!"

Momo also watched, bobbing his head up and down, satisfied with Sokka's torture. He curled himself up and dreamed of juicy, seedless, plump cherries.

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If happiness could be so easy to find here, let this be our sanctuary, our piece of forever.

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…..

Kaito was troubled at the look on Haine's face, so much like his own; dark with worry. She had dreamed again, hadn't she, he thought sadly. She was waterbending, and he saw the water seep into her body as she tried to soothe the dull ache in her chest. Kaito shook his head and rearranged his expression. He approached the petite girl.

"HAINE! It's time to EAT!"

As expected, Haine's eyes lit up brightly as her stomach grumbled noisily. She turned toward him and knocked him over with the force of her hug.

"YAY! LET'S EAT SEAL JERKY YEAH YEAH!" she cried, waving her arms like a windmill. She was a hungry monkey.

Kaito smiled to himself and shook his head. That girl could be so easily appeased by food. If she was sulking about a lost thumb war, just stuff a piece of cheese cake in her and she'd melt.

Kaito let himself be dragged to the kitchen of the humble hut they shared. Well actually, it was his and his mother's hut, but they had kind of adopted Haine into the family. They had been inseparable from the moment they met, most likely due to a special trait they had in common.

Haine, when the water village had first found her, was a sickly thing, pale and frail, her arms and legs, skin and bones. Which was still the case, she was so skinny even though she ate as much as a whale.

Kaito's eyebrows plummeted up at the thought as he watched Haine stuff a whole blueberry pie in her face. Haine turned to him with wide eyes that screamed panic. Kaito realized she was having difficulty swallowing.

Kaito watched as her face turned a faint blue as she struggled to swallow the giant object lodged in her throat. Finally, with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, she swallowed with a loud POP as he saw her creamy throat move delicately.

Then she let out a not so delicate burp.

Kaito laughed at her and she turned on him in chagrin. "SHUT UP! I'M HUNGRY!!"

"You're always hungry," Kaito admonished. He held back a smile when she blushed a bright red.

"Hmmph, maybe if you ate more, then you'd be stronger than me," she said embarrassedly.

"If I ate as much as you, I would qualify to be a sumo wrestler."

Twitch.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?"

Shrug.

WHY YOU

"TAKE THIS!" SUPER KARATE SUMO WATER SLICE

Kaito dodged neatly and quickly set a hot cup of hot chocolate before her.

He held back a grin as he watched her nose twitch and she worked to hold on to her remaining anger. Eventually, the need to sip the inviting chocolate drink won over and she turned quickly to the treat.

She gulped it down faster than he thought possible without scalding her throat. She smiled hugely at him.

"Thanks, Kaito!"

"No problem, Haine-chan!"

The corners of his smile turned down a bit when he remembered Haine's troubled look earlier on. "Haine…"

Haine turned to him with a questioning look on her face, her eyes ripping reluctantly away from the delicious smelling waffles at the center of the table.

Kaito chickened out and said instead, "Be sure to save some for Aunty. We need to eat too."

The girl narrowed his eyes at him. "Fine. I'll save some gladly for Aunty since she cooked it. But I'm not leaving any waffles for you," she retorted. Then she hurried to stuff as many waffles as she could down her throat.

Kaito glared down at her. "I cooked those."

EHHH?!

Poor Haine-chan almost choked to death. She imagined Kaito having his long hair in a bun and wearing a pink apron with smiles and purple stripes over it. The image exploded, nearly along with her brain.

Kaito smoothly handed her a glass of milk.

She chugged it down gratefully and sighed. Her appetite had been ruined.

But those waffles, so soft and fluffy that just melted in your mouth, THEY ARE GIRL WAFFLES?!! Only a girl could make creations so beautiful!!

Kaito smiled at his work well done and proceeded to help himself to the remaining waffles. However, he was starting to become uncomfortable at the stares Haine was shooting at him.

He looked up into thoughtful gray blue eyes.

"Kaito-kun."

"Yes, Haine-chan," he said, smiling. He drank from his milk glass.

"Are you a gay?"

Milk shot out and drenched Haine.

Poor Kaito.

1000 CHAKRA THUNDER BOLT STRIKE

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Look at our love in this beautiful garden. When it rains, it cries, but if it doesn't, it dies. Can our love never be perfect?


	3. They Meet

You've drilled your way into my iron clad heart and now there is no coming back out.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you

**zwischen**

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That dream was bothering. Seriously, before it was workable, really she could deal with it! It was just her memories of the past that could do nothing but torture her emotionally. But now, she's dreaming of herself DIEING? What's gone wrong with her mind?!!

I'm scarred for life, Haine thought pitifully.

So what is she going to do about it? Hmm.

_Never forget who you are, Haine-chan._

I'm not. I just can't…, Haine thought tormentfully.

_We love you_

_We love you_

_We-_

"Haine"?

"Huh?" Haine turned around to see Kaito looking worriedly at her.

"Is…Is that dream bothering you again?" he asked hesitantly, knowing his friend did not liked to be broached upon that painful topic of her parents.

Haine looked at him, seeming to debate within her whether to answer or not. Kaito's eyes darkened.

"Haine. You should tell me these things, Aunty and I. We want to help you. You are not alone anymore," he said in a firm voice.

Haine's eyes slid downwards, not looking at him. When she still hesitated to answer him, he was surprised to feel a seed for fury rest at the bottom of his stomach.

"Don't hide inside yourself!" he snapped.

Haine's head snapped up and she stared wide-eyed at him. Kaito-kun had never spoke with this tone at her before.

Kaito's eyes softened when he saw her sadness and he said gentler, "We care about you, Haine-chan. We…"

…_love you_

_We love you_

_We love you_

His mouth set straight in a thin line and he closed the distance between them and hugged her tightly.

"We love you," he whispered into her soft hair.

And Haine trembled in his hold and wrapped her own smaller arms around him.

_Thank you…Kaito._

Kaito pulled back but kept his strong, wiry arm around her frail shoulders. No, he thought darkly. She is not frail. She is not weak even though she thinks she is. Hell, she can beat me at penguin sliding, he thought amusedly.

"Hey, do you want to train?" she asked. When he looked down at her, he saw that her eyes were hardened with a sense of determination and unwavering stubbornness.

"Ah…yeah, sure…" he said, taken aback by her tone. She looked up at him and he stilled, seeing a light shimmer of fire in her eyes.

"I don't want to die, Kaito."

Kaito eyes widened, pulling her tighter against him. "Hey, ne, don't worry about those things, Haine-chan. You're not going to die," he said frantically, worried at what had made her think that.

"No, Kaito. I'm going to die. That's what I dreamed of. I…I was bleeding," she said her voice wavering. Kaito just stared at her wide-eyed, frozen and unable to speak. But he watched as her lips turned down into a fierce frown and she looked up at him again.

"But I'm not going to die so easily. I want to fight against it. So I'm going to train to be stronger," she said with fierce determination lacing her words.

_You have no idea how strong you are, Haine-chan._

But he nodded. He hated to admit it, but Haine's dreams always had an annoying uncanny habit of becoming true. Like the time she dreamed that he would lose his pants to an angry penguin. He blushed. That was an embarrassing day.

And the other time she had seen a Fire Nation flag stand on their water tribe snowy grounds.

His eyes darkened. That time, they had been lucky to fight off the small sized army. With Haine's warning, they were prepared for the onslaught.

Their water tribe had managed to remain in secret existence for a long period of time until Fire Nation accidently stumbled upon it a few decades back. With both the Northern and Southern water tribes invaded, their water tribe had tried to keep its existence quiet as possible to avoid confrontation by the war. They were located just a bit east of the strong Northern tribe that provided unconscious protection for them.

Kaito himself, and Haine were the main reasons they were able to fight off the Fire Nation armies. Kaito, a strong water bender already, combined with his ability to bend air, had scored a major advantage over the Fire Nation.

He snorted. Although, the army was dumb enough not to notice he was airbending. He smiled; Haine was smart enough to teach him to disguise his airbending with her waterbending. Which led to the other advantage. Haine was a waterbending genius, although she refused to acknowledge it herself. Because water is always in the air, she labored months and months to finally learn the secret of airbending.

And he hadn't even noticed she was airbending until he recognized the familiar moves she had used. Haine had an uncanny ability to manipulate _anything_ with water in it. She could probably even earthbend, now that he came to think of it.

Their village was safe, he was sure. And so was Haine. She was incredibly strong, and her healing powers had only increased after…saving him from a near row with death.

He shuddered, thinking back to the battle when he was too preoccupied with taking on a whole legion of soldiers on his own. Nah, he was exaggerating, but the numbers _were_ overwhelming. He had taken a nasty burn to the whole right side of his body and a spear wound in his shoulder.

Haine had healed everyone, including him. His skin, today, is unmarred by the fire of that soldier.

He sighed. If only she would firebend, he thought ruefully.

But he knew Haine-chan. She was a kind soul and could not bear to kill anyone. Which was why she used her medical genius to paralyze and disable enemies.

She's really one of a kind.

He took Haine's hand and they walked toward their favorite place to play.

There, they would train for many hours, preparing for what Haine was sure would evolve into a bloody massacre.

-

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-

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-

You carve love into my heart and say you love me. Somehow, I hear you through the drip drip of my spilled blood. Is it possible for love to be as painful as this?

-

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-

**Several months into the future**

"We're DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!"

CHOMP

"DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED I TELL YOU!"

Pieces of food fly everywhere.

CHOMP

Twitch

"DOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—AHH—GMMMMPHH!"

"I hope you choke on that piece of turkey, dumbbutt," Toph said, after having brutally stuffed a large piece of turkey leg into Sokka's open, LOUD mouth, a tick visible on her head.

Katara, thoroughly annoyed at her much annoying brother, declined to help her brother regain his ability to breathe. "Nice aim, Toph," she congratulated.

Toph blew her bangs out of her face and shrugged. "I try," she said.

Sokka, had meanwhile regained use of his mouth and throat. He took a mighty breath and prepared to holler at Toph until this time, Toph, wanting him to keep his mouth shut, threw a plate of mashed potatoes at his face.

Sokka was preoccupied with that for just a short minute until he had slurped up all the delicious mush and prepared once again to rant at Toph.

Katara stepped in this time, adding a suggestion. "Toph, maybe you should throw Momo at his head this time."

Sokka wisely snapped his mouth shut. He glared fiercely at Toph until Katara noticed. "Toph's blind, Sokka."

"Aw, no, I never knew that! Of course I know she's bl—oh…" he stuttered, aware Toph was oblivious to his FAMOUS NUMBER ONE BOOMERANG SOKKA DEATH GLARE.

After being foiled, he brightened, and then started making nasty faces at Toph and making poopy noises, pulling down his eye and sticking out his tongue, wagging it around until-

BAM

"I can sense vibrations, Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum."

Toph had used earthbending to tip over Sokka's chair, causing him to fall backwards hard on his head.

"Uwwwwahh…uhh..huh…owwww…" Sokka moaned.

Katara smiled. "Thanks, Toph."

Toph blew her bangs up, sucked in a breath and spit.

"No problem."

Katara cringed.

-

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-

A few minutes later found Sokka still fuming over the incident. "All I was doing was stating the facts and what do I get in return? I buttload of crap tasting turkey. I WANTED CHICKEN," he screamed.

Katara and Toph ignored his ramblings, leaving him to the background.

"Toph, what should we do now? We haven't found any information on the girl yet. All we know is that she… nah. We don't know ANYTHING about her. Just that she's somehow connected to Aang's friend in Fire Nation," Katara said.

Toph shrugged. "Beats me," she deadpanned. She lied down and closed her eyes, putting her arms behind her head.

Twitch.

"The Day of Black Sun is coming soon, and we need to use the Fire Nation's moment of weakness to our advantage! We need to find that girl and have her help us!"

"Uh-huh." Her eyes still closed.

Twitch.

"And we've gotten no closer than we were a few months ago!!"

"Sure."

Bigger twitch.

"Otherwise, we will be doomed like Sokka said!"

At the magic word, Sokka began screaming again. "DOOOOOOOO—UMMPH … huh… ah… OW HEY WHAT WAS THAT—UNNGH …ha…uhhhh…OWWWW!"

A bullfrog croaks.

"Okay, here's the plan. We know she's a waterbender, right? And we know she's not in Fire Nation, we've been searching for her for months. So, she's gotta be somewhere in the Northern Water Tribe, right?" Sokka said logically.

Katara thought hard. "No, I don't think so, Sokka. Remember Master Pakku's bias against girls waterbending? She wouldn't have been allowed to waterbend there and train. I'm sure she's hiding somewhere else. Maybe somewhere we haven't looked yet."

"Well, then, she's gotta be somewhere where there's a lot of water for her to work with. Maybe somewhere up north where we didn't look, maybe," Sokka said.

Toph sighed. "Idiots. Don't you remember? Twinkletoes," the group flinched at the mention of his affectionate nickname. "said that she had the ability to bend all the elements. She doesn't have to be near water. She could be practicing earthbending for all we know."

Sokka sighed heavily. "Let's stay for one last week here in Fire Nation. If we can't find anything then about her, then we'll travel to the Northern Water Tribe and search for her there."

The group nodded.

One week.

-

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-

And one week later, they had found something. Or to be more precise, something had found them.

EHHH?!!

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-

Haine had dreamed of another future event.

_The redcoats are coming_.

And this time, they are bringing LARGE reinforcements. And as much as Haine tried to make Kaito believe her, he would not budge. There was something he refused to believe in her words. Haine had told him that the waterbenders would be captured this time. He would not believe her. And it saddened her deeply.

Haine had dreamed that the firebenders were coming, and this time, they were coming to capture the airbender. Haine had always feared that Kaito would be discovered for his airbending and it seemed her fear was coming true.

This time, the firebenders would not leave until they captured the _Avatar._

_Muffled conversations…_

"…_the avatar is still alive?!" an angry voice. Female_

"_I-I-I'm not sure…an airbender, near the n-n-north pole. H-h-he… was airbending when our ship passed by…w-we could feel the wind from him."_

"…_capture…STATIC…water village…kill them all…"_

"…_yes…Princess Azula…"_

She had seen her face. Golden eyes that every fire nation soldier had. Eyes her father had. Golden, like the sun.

But this woman's eyes. They were evil, nothing like the warmth her father had radiated. Her eyes held no remorse for the countless people she was sure to have killed and they were as hard as diamonds.

Haine shuddered unconsciously. This _princess_ was definitely strong, and someone to watch out for.

But what worried Haine the most was her best friend.

"Kaito, I really- "

"Aww, come on, Haine-chan. It's not going to happen alright?!! Don't let your imagination take over your life," he had said cheerfully.

But she refused to back down until she had convinced her friend to leave the confines of their home and travel to Fire Nation, the least likely place the troops would be searching for them. He had looked at her in shock, thinking that she was joking, but she would not relent.

"We're going to Fire Nation, Kaito-kun," she said firmly.

She had seen him _die._

And she would not let that happen. Even if the rest of the water village had to be captured to save Kaito, she would do it. They could always try to save the rest another time, right? Kaito-kun was too strong to lose, and too important for her survival for her to bear to be not left with.

Finally, Kaito had relented and agreed to _accompany_ her to Fire Nation.

She let herself grin. She had managed to get him to come by threatening to go by herself, knowing that the two of them could never bear to be separate from one another. When Kaito had seen the resolution in her eyes, he could do nothing but give up and go along with her wishes.

They had warned the rest of the water tribe, telling them to seek refuge in the Northern Water Tribe. Of course, most of the villagers were not happy with this, having to leave their home, but they trusted more in Haine's dreams than Kaito did.

Hopefully, the fire armies would not dare to attack the Northern Tribe again. The waterbenders there were as superb as the benders at home.

"Kaito-kun, we're keeping our loved ones safe," she had said.

_Lair._

_You're selfish_

_You only want to save Kaito-kun._

That's not true, Haine thought. The corners of her mouth turned down.

She focused on their travel. They had borrowed a humble boat from the men in their water tribe and had packed for a week's journey to Fire Nation. She and Kaito had fun amidst the race to escape the _redcoats_, using their waterbending to ride huge waves on their boat.

Unbeknownst to them, a fire nation ship had seen the boat on the humungous, unnatural waves. The captain took one stunned look at the waves, the boat, and then the benders on his scope and alerted his ship immediately,

"Set course back to Fire Nation, full speed."

-

-

-

And here they were, finally at their destination.

_Fire Nation._

_Father…_

_This was once your home…_

"So, Haine-chan. What are we going to do here? When are we supposed to go back? Don't feel guilty, I might enjoy this vacation with you here actually," Kaito chirped happily, still unwilling to believe Haine's words.

Haine shrugged. "I guess when we hear of fire ships coming back from the northern waters."

And they went off to explore the Fire Nation. "Ne, Haine-chan, are you recollecting memories," Kaito nudged Haine when she had stayed quiet for an extended period of time.

Haine looked up at him and smiled sadly. "Yes."

Kaito immediately regretted asking. Her eyes had become downcast and her shoulders tensed visibly. He sighed.

"Hey Haine-chan! Let's go try some Fire style snacks!!"

Haine's big eyes popped wide and she turned on him with a huge beautiful smile. "YEAH!" Then her eyes scanned the area, spotting a restaurant almost disappearing from her line of sight. She pointed to it.

"Race you there, Kaito-kun!" she said and took off at full speed, dust trailing behind her.

WOW HAINE-CHAN RUNS SUPER FAST WHEN HUNGRY

"HEY, SO UNFAIR!" and he took off running too.

Haine chanced a look back to see if her friend had caught up and missed noticing the group of friends she was heading directly at. Kaito saw however, and his eyes widened.

Haine saw his eyes panic and giggled. "I'm going to beat you Kai—AHHH!!!" And she barreled straight into Katara, bowling them both over.

Katara, disgruntled and already in a bad mood that she had found nothing relating to the girl they were searching for took out her anger on the intruder. She heaved the smaller girl off her roughly. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" She said, a bit coldly.

Kaito came running up and helped his friend up.

"Haine, are you okay?" he asked worriedly. Then he turned on Katara. "It was an accident, don't treat my friend so roughly," he said with an edge.

Katara was about to retort when she saw his eyes. She gasped.

Time freezes.

She stared into beautiful eyes, the same shade as Aang's.

And his eyes narrow at her before turning back to Haine who is collecting the coins she had dropped when she had bumped into Katara.

Sokka bent down, helping her with the coins. "Here, lemme help you with—"

He gasped. Those coins… were water tribe money.

He looked up into piercing gray-blue eyes.

"Thank yo—"

"You're from the water tribes?" Sokka asked.

Haine and Kaito tensed. Were these people enemies or friends.

Katara sucked in a breath. "Are…you the…Avatar?" she asked shakily.

Haine relaxed and Kaito burst into laughter. "HAHAHA, that is so ironic, Haine-chan. They think you're the avatar…they have no clue how—"

He was cut off when Haine slapped her hand on his mouth, effectively silencing him. "Shhh," she cautioned.

"Are you from the water tribes?" Sokka repeated his previous question.

Haine looked at them, her expression guarded. "…Yes," she answered hesitantly.

Toph startled Haine by speaking for the first time. "Finally, our search is over!" she huffed, relieved they had found the girl finally. Toph frowned. The boy had an uncanny ability to stay completely still for a long period of time and it bothered Toph that she had difficulty sensing him. The girl… she was very easy to sense. Her emotions, Toph could tell, were warring with each other by the subtle shaking of her shoulders and the nervous shifting in her feet.

"Toph, we have no idea if this is the right girl…" Katara said, shaking her head, still staring at the beautiful boy. Eyes so much like Aang's.

_We will meet again_

"Oh, it's her alright. I can feel the heat from her."

Haine tensed immediately, uncomfortable at how much the girl could read from her. "Who…are you?" she asked nervously.

Kaito sensed the distress in her tone and moved automatically to shield her from the confuzzled friends. Sokka noticed this and raised his hands in a soothing gesture.

"Hey, we're not here to pick a fight. We're just looking for some mystery girl who has the power to bend all four elements…Avatar stuff you know. We need to find her and get her to help us defeat the Firelord and all that destiny yadda yadda, you know?"

Kaito's eyes narrowed. "Help you…defeat the Firelord? And end the world?"

"Yes," Katara said. "Is your friend the one?" she asked hurriedly.

Kaito glanced down at Haine's tense form. "Haine…?"

Then Toph quickly reacted. "Hey, boys, girls, we gotta run. People are starting to listen," she said reading the movements of the crowd around them. The crash the girl had initiated had attracted the attention of people and now the strained conversation was attracting more.

Kaito started to walk away, towing Haine along until Katara's arm shot out and grabbed his free wrist. Kaito whirled on her, expression livid.

"Please, will you help us?" she pleaded, her face melting his anger, confusing him. "What…Haine?"

He looked down at the girl he knew he would follow anywhere. Haine looked down, not meeting his gaze.

"I think we should go, Kaito." He nodded.

They turned to walk away and Katara made to stop them but Sokka's arm shot out and stopped her.

"Wait, Katara. Don't cause a scene here. Let's follow them silently. Maybe they'll listen to us after we have a more private place to talk. At least we know that she's here in Fire Nation," he reasoned.

Katara stared longingly at the retreating backs of the two strangers and then nodded.

The three kept the two in their sights as they followed them, weaving through the crowd, always watching the two strangers.

_Let the chase begin._

-

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-

Their following led them to the restaurant Haine was headed for. Katara wanted to go in and confront them but Toph shook her head no. The place was still too public and if the conversation headed somewhere physical, here was not a good place to be found waterbending and earthbending.

Katara nodded her understanding and the group rested outside the restaurant, out of view, hidden and watching through the window. Momo chattered impatiently as the group continued their sneaky antics.

Inside the restaurant, Haine and Kaito ordered and waited patiently. Haine kept quiet and Kaito spoke.

"Haine…how did they know you could…"

"I don't know," she said, her gaze worried and confused.

"Well, they didn't seem like they were from Fire Nation. I think two of them were even water tribe people. Don't you think we should help them out?" he said, interested in how the blue-eyed ones knew of their secret.

"I…I don't want to, Kaito," she said slowly, eyes looking down.

Kaito looked at her sharply. Haine-chan was never one to refuse to help someone in need. She was the most compassionate person her had ever known. She hated to hurt people…

And then his eyes dawned with realization.

"You don't want to fight, do you?" he said gently. His had slid over and covered her small one. She looked up at him hesitantly and her her eyes darted away when she saw the sadness in Kaito's eyes.

He wanted to fight.

Haine knew that Kaito held a grudge against Fire Nation for extinguishing the Air nomads. One of which was his great grandfather, who had fallen in love with his great grand-mother, a waterbender. Even though he had not known his great grandfather, he was told of his love and devotion and kindness toward his wife and the rest of the waterbenders. He was also taught of the brutality and cruelty of the Fire Nation.

The air bending ability had skipped two generations until it had appeared in Kaito. His mother had been horrified when he accidently sneezed himself up 15 feet into the air on his 13th birthday. At first, he was forbidden to show his talent which angered him, but he understood the danger and relented.

That is, until one day, a waterbender caught him airbending secretly. The secret had traveled only among the water tribe members, his mother speaking fiercely for him, telling them to keep their mouth shut.

They did, grudgingly seeing the advantages of him being an airbender.

However, he was excluded from play with the other young waterbenders. No one wanted to play with someone with an unfair advantage.

Kaito had become depressed by the confusing and sometimes fearful glances people threw at him.

That was until he met Haine. Someone who shared his pain, someone who held an even darker secret.

Katio's grip on her hand tightened. "I'll follow you wherever you want to go," he said determinedly even though the longing to participate in the war showed through.

Haine looked ashamedly up at him. I'm holding him down, she thought.

_Am I… a burden to him?_

Kaito saw the indecision in her eyes as her emotions warred against each other. Then her eyes cleared and she looked deeply into his.

"What do you want to do, Kaito?"

The boy in question widened his eyes.

"You don't need to follow me anywhere. I'm sorry I dragged you along to Fire Nation. I was being selfish," she said remorsefully, her eyes sliding downwards. "I know you…want to fight," she whispered. "And I won't stop you."

Kaito did not speak for a few moments and Haine started growing more uncomfortable. She started to pull her hand away. Kaito's grip tightened.

He looked at her with clear blue eyes and said, "I want to do anything that will make you happy. Because you helped me in my moment of need," he said with a clear voice.

She smiled a breathtaking smile at him.

"Kaito-kun…it is _you_ who have helped me at my most darkest time."

He was frozen in shock, her words piercing through him. Before he had time to react, the food arrived. Haine's eyes glittered vibrantly.

"YAY! LET'S EAT KAITO-KUN!!!"

-

-

-

-

On this frozen piece of ice I will forever roam. Until I find what binds me here, I cannot go back home.

-

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-

-

Really, it was such horrible timing. A captain had spotted waterbenders, one of them suspected to be the airbender, making there way _here_ to _Fire Nation_, and she has to _leave_ for a stupid campaign meeting with Father somewhere in Earth Kingdom.

Azula sighed. It was really too unfair.

Azula had no choice but assign her brother to take care of the nuisance. And it would have been so interesting to battle them and defeat them.

She sighed again. She doubted Prince Zuko could handle the challenge so she enlisted the help of Ty lee and Mai to accompany.

Mai had jumped at the chance to spend more time with Zuko and had even cracked a smile. Very unusual…what was Zuko doing to her? And Ty lee seemed to be relieved not to have to accompany her…Hmmm…

Oh well, Zuzu backed up with the strongest non firebenders was sure to succeed, though a part of her wished that he wouldn't be so lucky so she could have her chance.

When she had informed Zuko of his task, he had seemed a bit reluctant to take it on.

"What's the matter, Zuzu?" she had asked. "Are you _afraid_," she mocked him.

He had whirled on her angrily, stomping past her and out of the room.

She laughed at his immaturity and then sighed exasperatedly for another time.

This was going to be _so _boring.

-

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-

When I'm frozen in time with my most dreaded fears, you erase them from my mind and send the world spinning.


	4. We Run

We run, we hide, we crash, and we fall. But we pick each other up after… always.

-

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Please pause and see

**Zwischen**

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Zuko was not exactly happy with the new task he was assigned. He was not eager to face Katara again; he felt as if he had betrayed her.

_Um…yeah, you kinda did._

"URGHHHAAAAHH!" he yelled in frustration. What was he so angry at?

When he had come home to Fire Nation, his father had welcomed him back, but what surprised him the most was that his father seemed to get the notion that _Zuko_ had killed the Avatar.

I was sure it was Azula, he thought humorlessly.

Later, Azula had come to his room and informed him that she had given up her chance to win some affection from Daddy by telling him that _he_ had killed the Avatar.

"Well, you didn't have the Avatar coming back with you and I feared that father might not have taken that as well as I hoped him too. So I decided to tell him that _you_ killed him. Shouldn't you be thanking me, Zuzu?"

Zuko had narrowed his eyes at her, questioning her actions.

"Azula, you never do anything to help other people. Why are you doing this?"

"Aww, Zuzu…I'm hurt. Do actually believe that?"

"Yes," he deadpanned.

She shrugged carelessly. "Alright, Zuzu. Think what you like. Anyway, you've earned back your honor. By the way, it would be a shame if the Avatar actually survived, wouldn't it?"

Zuko had tensed, then relaxed. He was sure Katara could not have saved the boy.

"It's your loss," he had said coolly, smiling a crooked smile at Azula.

Azula had narrowed her eyes at him, but then she waved it off and danced out of his room.

"See you around, Zuzu."

Zuko sighed. He was worried about the waterbenders they were going to face. First of all, Azula had said there were two of them. If his memory served correct, Katara was the only waterbender in the group…unless Azula was talking about a whole different set of people.

He supposed it was possible. There are, after all, other powerful waterbenders, he thought, refusing to acknowledge Katara's strength. He was just stumped on why they would be here in Fire Nation. Maybe to find the Avatar's group?

No matter. He would defeat them. He had to in order to not fall from his father's grace. It also would help set him higher up in opinion in Azula's eyes. Zuko hated being less able than his sister, even though he knew it was true. It was always Azula this, Azula that, Azula _everything_.

Only his mother…

_Mother…_

_I wish you were here with me._

Zuko's eyes hardened. He would win. He had too. To keep his honor.

But was honor everything to him? Did he have to kill and hurt people to gain it? His mind was still in a turmoil and he was frustrated that he wasn't getting answers.

_Why…_

At that moment, someone knocked on his door, and without waiting for an answer, strode in.

"Prince Zuko," she said mockingly.

Zuko's eyes softened just a bit, but Mai saw it. The corners of her lips tilted up.

"Mai…" he said hesitantly.

Mai rolled her dark eyes and came to him, sighing. "Zuko, let's get this thing over with. Ty Lee and I are ready. Azula's already set up everything for us before she left; she assigned 3 legions of soldiers to help us."

Zuko frowned a bit. "Azula thinks we need that much firepower?" he asked, a bit worriedly.

Mai looked at him. "Is it just me?" she said uninterestedly, "Or is Azula right about you being a chicken?"

Zuko's blood burned at that and he glared at her. "I'm not scared, okay?!"

Mai smirked. "Yeah, okay," she said in an unconvincing voice and slid over closer to give him an affectionate peck on his cheek. "You'll be fine," she said, with a bit more emotion.

"I believe in you."

Zuko's eyes widened at the sincerity in her words and he smiled at her. Mai's breath caught in her throat. His crooked smile was dazzling. She drew him closer and they embraced before heading out, preparing for the battle.

-

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-

-

Sokka was speechless, which was a very rare thing.

But what was even more rare was that, he was speechless because he had met a person who loved eating even more than him.

EHHHH?!!

Enter Haine-chan.

The cookie monster's worst enemy.

Sokka, Katara, and the waiter stared in amazement, all their faces a mirror reflection. Their jaws dropped to the ground and their eyes popped open so wide they almost fell out of their sockets.

Kaito continued on eating, used to the amount of food Haine-chan can consume, amused at the reaction she was evoking from the waiter.

Haine, oblivious to the stares of the people around her, (the customers had turned to see what had taken one of the servers so long and then were also caught in the hypnosis of Haine's mighty chewing) and plowed right on into her spicy eel.

"Mmmmh," she sighed, enjoying the food that was oh so delicious.

Kaito chuckled.

Sokka continued to stare from outside until he started to sputter and stutter, trying to get something out.

Toph did the liberty of smacking him in the back, causing his head to smack against the window.

_Ouch_

After Sokka had freed himself from the window with a big POP he turned to Toph to give her his FAMOUS NUMBER ONE BOOMERANG SOKKA DEATH GLARE until he remembered an incident a week ago.

Then he shrugged and resumed staring at Haine who was now on her 10th roll of HOT CHILI FISH SUSHI!

She seemed to have no problem handling the spice while meanwhile, Kaito was tearing up at the eyes, his head swiveling widely around, trying to locate the water.

WHERE'S THE WATER DAMMIT?!!

The mighty nutrient consuming machine had attracted the attention of other waiters who had so unfortunately come to serve tables surrounding the pair, and they also were caught up in the magnificent view of her chomping at the speed of light.

Then Haine stopped. She looked around wildly for more food but since Kaito was choking on the hot tea he had chugged a bit too fast had not had time to keep up the ordering of foods for her.

So Haine had to order for herself. Which was quite the dilemma because everything on the menu looked OH SO DELICIOUS and her mouth started watering despite herself. The server, meanwhile, had regained the ability to think freely when the awesome view of her sharp canines were hidden when she closed her mouth and ceased to chew.

The crowd shivered and started dispersing and the server leaned in to help the awe struck girl.

"I would recommend the fiery, red, squirrel fish, my lady," he whispered into her ear.

Haine twitched excitedly and opened her mouth to order when Kaito was suddenly seemed to remember their short money supply and happened to see the price of the squirrel fish.

"Actually, we'll take the check now," he said hurriedly.

Haine turned to him, her eyes wide. "WHY? I'M NOT FULL YET!!!"

SILENCE shakes the world.

EHHHH?!!! HAINE-CHAN HOW CAN YOU STILL BE HUNGRY??!!!

Kaito whimpered silently as he thought of his allowance. All that hard earned money, he thought pitifully. Then he sighed. Anything to please Haine-chan.

"All right, we'll take the…squirrel fish…"

And the waiter sped to inform the cook of the eating machine and how they were going to earn a fortune today.

Outside, Sokka and Katara were freed from the hypnotism power of Haine's chewing and they slid down slowly.

Wow.

That girl sure can eat.

Sokka suddenly stood up. "NO!!!! THAT GIRL HAS FOILED MY REPUTATION OF BEING THE BIGGEST EATER IN THE WATER TRIBES!!" he screamed, his pride stepped upon.

SILENCE shakes the world.

AND THE WORLD RUMBLES

"Sokka," Katara said in a deadly voice. Obviously, Sokka was heard, by both the people inside the restaurant and outside. With wanted posters of the three were hung up with uncanny similarities to the real people, the fire guards put two and two together and figured these people were enemies of the Fire Nation. And now, their cover was blown.

"Nice going fatso," Toph said and sighed as Sokka opened his mouth to retort.

"Hey, I'm not a fa….AHHHHHHHH!!"

Fire is shot at him and he ducks for cover.

Toph spits into her hands and earthbends a few rocks at incoming soldiers who were alerted of the scene.

A nearby guard ran to inform the prince that was sitting in for Firelord Ozai.

Inside the restaurant, Haine was pulled rudely out from her dream come true of squirrel fish when she heard the voice from outside.

Who's the big eater?!! I WANNA SEE, she thought. Until Kaito pulled her roughly to her feet, dropped a few coins on the table and dragged her speedily out of the restaurant when he heard the commotion outside.

She opened her mouth wide to protest but then she clamped it shut when she saw the three strangers they had encountered earlier. Why are they here? She thought.

Then she looked in amazement as Katara wielded her water ship and used it to deal a hard strike on a fire nation soldier. They are benders, she thought.

Kaito saw too, but he was unsure whether to hurry and leave the scene or to stay and help them battle. He looked to Haine for a suggestion.

The civilians around them started screaming and crying and they ran away from the scene, trying to dodge the fire.

Haine was torn between keeping Kaito away from the firebenders and helping the waterbender and her friends. She was forced to make a decision when she saw a firebender sneak up on the preoccupied Katara.

Making to create her water needles, her eyes widened when she saw the small girl dressed in green defend the waterbending with earthbending.

She smiled. They did not need help. They were strong, she could tell.

She motioned to Kaito for them to hurry and go. The most of the crowd had already dispersed and the two hurried to move with the rest.

Katara saw them leaving and she acted desperately. "PLEASE, Wait! We need your help!" she said. To her horror, she realized she was crying. For some reason, she did not want to let the boy go.

Haine had come to a sudden stop. She half turned back toward the people who were fighting. Then she looked at the firebenders who were battling against them.

_Which side…_

_What do I do…_

Katara saw that the girl had paused and she quickly took her chance. Using all of her energy, she took all the water from the fountain nearby and sent a huge wave crashing toward the firebenders. After the wave had subsided, Toph raised a giant wall between them and the firebenders.

Katara and Toph quickly ran towards Haine and Kaito, with Sokka following hot on their tails after retrieving his trusty boomerang.

Haine's eyes widened at the power of benders and stepped back slightly. Then she quickly took Kaito's hand and they ran, as fast as they could from the group of strange friends and the firebenders chasing them.

"Wait! Please! Can't we just talk?" Sokka shouted, not wanting to become a baked potato by the firebender hot on his trail.

Kaito shouted over his shoulder, "Leave us alone, we don't want to!"

The distance between Haine/Kaito and Katara/Toph/Sokka grew and Katara started to lose hope. They weren't going to keep up.

The friends ahead of them were almost disappearing from sight until something else blocked their path.

Katara sighed, thankful they finally had to pause when she realized what was the problem.

Sokka gulped.

"Awww MAN!!! He just HAS to ruin it for us, DOESN'T HE?!" Sokka whined, seeing Zuko.

YES boys and girls, the prince has arrived to take his princess.

-

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-

-

Haine stopped breathing when she caught sight of the figures spread in front of them. It was headed by a man of tall height with two females flanking each side of him.

Kaito had seen them too, whispering to her, "Should we keep running?" his breath even, even though they had been running for a while.

As they drew closer to the group, she noticed something.

She recognized the man, the beautiful boy in her dreams. Except he did not look so beautiful now; there was a large scar marring the left side of his face and he was sporting a heavy frown that twisted his features sharply.

She frowned slightly and then she turned to Kaito. "What do you think, Kaito?"

Kaito chanced a look back and then turned to see the three figures become bigger and bigger. "You think we can outrun them, Haine?"

Haine smiled. "I think I'm up for it…but I don't know about you," she said, lightly teasing.

Kaito smirked. "Just try to keep up, Haine-chan," he said and then flew at the three blocking their path.

The friends behind them also picked up the pace, panic fueling them on. The waterbenders had not met Zuko yet and they didn't know how strong he was, or how dangerous Ty Lee and Mai were.

Sokka huffed in frustration, his breaths becoming more and more uneven. "If only they would stop and listen!!"

Kaito ran at Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee, swinging his right arm in a huge arc in front of him. A huge blast of air blew the surprised trio off their feet.

Mai quickly threw two daggers at him as she fell while Zuko fell sideways onto his hands into a handstand and swung his legs at Kaito, throwing a shield of fire at the airbender. Ty Lee fell into a cartwheel and landed gracefully, then charged at Kaito, only to twist to dodge a flurry of icicles headed for her.

She did another cartwheel and wheeled around again, trying to reach Kaito and hit his chi points. She was unaware that the icicles had turned like her and were headed straight for her back when Mai threw a series of shuriken and broke the icicles, ice tinkling on to the ground.

Kaito dodged Mai's knives and blew away Zuko's fire with a quick flick of his wrist and then sent another powerful gust of air at Zuko who dodged. Haine quickly ran up behind Kaito and while Zuko was in midair, dodging, she sent a whip of water at him, snagging his ankle. She brought her hand down suddenly and Zuko was thrown to the floor with a loud crash. The water around him settled on the ground and he watched as the ground soaked it up.

He smiled. The waterbenders would soon run out of water.

He quickly jumped up. The waterbenders were nearing closer and closer. "Ty Lee!" he shouted.

Ty Lee quickly met Kaito and they were involved in a flurry of kicks and punches that were blocked and deflected, each struggling for an opening. They sprung apart and Mai took her chance to throw her knives at the occupied Kaito but they were deflected by a gust of air Haine sent at them.

Ty and Kaito sprung back into action, but Kaito quickly thrust air at her, blowing her back. He took the chance to run but had only made a few more steps before a wall of fire blocked him.

Haine was starting to become worried. It took too much concentration for her to airbend, but she had little choice. She was running out of water. To her horror, she realized the group behind them was catching up.

She fell backwards on her hands as Mai sent a large knife flying at her. Her reaction was a bit slow and it sheared the tips of her hair. Strands of hair floated down to the floor. Haine quickly pushed hard against the ground and backflipped up. In the air, she quickly wove her fingers through the air and collected the water, forming them into sharp arrows.

When she landed, she threw them with deadly precision at Mai. Mai broke them easily with her knives and sent some flying toward Haine who blew them back with a gust of air.

Haine ran toward her, her fingers weaving through the air again, searching for more water. Then she quickly threw the small ice needles at Mai. Mai readied to block whatever was coming at her when she saw Haine throw when she felt something sharp pierce her arms. Then they fell limply to her sides, her knives dropping from her hold.

"Huh?" She didn't see anything.

Haine, satisfied that she had rendered her opponents use of her arms useless, proceeded to run. Still running, she flung her right arm in a large arc, shooting air, sending Ty Lee's incoming kick in the wrong direction and throwing the girl off balance.

"Unh, Mai what's wrong?!" Ty Lee yelled back at the girl and then hurried to catch Haine.

Mai would have shrugged but her arms were numb. "I think she's practiced in the art of chi blocking," Mai said uninterestedly. She did not move to follow them, already giving up the fight.

Kaito meanwhile was having trouble getting around Zuko. He couldn't push forward while he was busy blocking flames from the firebender.

Haine, getting closer to him saw that he was having trouble only airbending. Her mouth opened in a perfect O when she saw Kaito stumble and fall when he partially blocked the blast of fire with his air, the impact throwing him off balance. She saw Zuko pull his arm back to throw more flames at him and she reacted quickly.

Sensing the water she had thrown at him earlier seep into the ground, she clenched her hand and flung it sideways. Zuko felt himself being moved to the side and his flames missed Kaito as the ground beneath him moved.

"WHAT?"

Kaito, thankful for the short distraction, was back on his feet and running with Haine. He could hear her panting softly. He remembered worriedly that she tired quickly, using earthbending and airbending. He fell back from her and turned, swing his arms in a full arc around his midsection and then throwing them out, sending a huge blast of air at Zuko who was closest behind them, blowing him back to crash into Ty Lee.

They both fell to the ground with an "Umph!"

Kaito turned and ran when he saw them jump back up with great speed. Zuko resumed the chase with Ty Lee following close behind. Mai, seeing that she was going to be left behind ran also, feeling some sense return to her arms. Her arms were tingling and she could almost twitch her fingers. She glanced back and saw Katara and her group coming up.

Sokka was breathing heavily now, struggling for breath. After a few more steps, he faltered and then stopped, slumping to the ground. He waved his hand.

"You guys go along. I'll catch my breath here."

Momo glided down and landed on his head. "No, Momo, you go with them!"

However, Katara and Toph were losing breath too. They both stopped, hands on their knees, puffing in and out.

"Man, those guy have real stamina," Toph commented. Katara was not about to give up though. Taking the water from her pack, she went ahead, surfing on the ice she waterbended from the water, increasing her speed.

Toph after a few moments followed, forcing the earth up to carry her. Sokka was left with Momo to watch them enviously as they disappeared from sight, using their bending.

He lay there on the ground for a while and then got up. Quickly, he turned to his left and started to run again.

"Come on Momo. Those waterbenders are going to want to head near water. Let's take a detour and beat them to it!"

Up ahead, Haine and Kaito were constantly forced to dodge the incoming fire blasts sent by Zuko. They had been passing a lot of land but there was no water in sight. Haine made a last attempt to stop their pursuers. She turned and stopped, standing her ground firmly. Using her remaining energy, she painstakingly constructed a wall of earth between them, forcing the water beneath the ground to move the rock.

It was tiring work but finally, the wall stood tall and firm. She closed her eyes, concentrated and then suddenly slammed her foot on the ground and pushed. The wall creaked and then moved back.

Zuko and Ty Lee's eyes widened as the tower of rock tumbled down on them. Luckily for them, Haine was tiring and the earth crumbled into smaller boulders as they fell on them, enabling them to dodge and block.

Haine turned and sluggishly ran. Her energy was draining fast with all the earthbending she was being forced to do. By this time, Mai had regained the use of her arms and detoured around the falling rocks, leaving Zuko and Ty behind.

Haine had almost caught up to Kaito and moaned. "Where's the water, dammit!" she cursed. Waterbending would be so much easier.

Kaito slowed down, turning and blowing a blast of air at the gaining Mai, but Haine slowed even more. "Kaito, I need to waterbend," she panted.

Please, let the clouds rain, she thought.

But there were no clouds in sight. Zuko and Ty Lee had come up now, breathing a bit heavier than usual. Haine and Kaito turned, facing them.

Zuko smirked. They were running out of steam.

"Surrender now, and we won't have to kill you," he said. Kaito's eyes narrowed.

"I think you should leave us alone before we kick your ass," Kaito retorted.

Zuko's eyebrows rose. "You have no water to waterbend and I can see airbending and earthbending tires the girl greatly. What can you do now?"

Haine shifted slightly.

Mai quickly threw a few shuriken at Haine. The tired girl did nothing to dodge them. The blades ripped through her flesh, making deep cuts along her arms, causing blood to stream out. Ty Lee clapped. "Great job, Mai!"

However, Haine grinned. Her opponents were slightly confused by her reaction. Zuko frowned.

Haine motioned to Kaito. "Kaito, go ahead and ready the boat. I'll meet you there."

Kaito glanced down at her bleeding form and sighed. "Are you sure you can take them, Haine?"

Haine nodded. Kaito sighed. "Don't push yourself," he said, and then turned and ran.

Ty hurried to follow the fleeing boy but she suddenly found herself looking up at the sky. Haine had tripped her. Ty blinked as she felt something sticky on her hands and her back. She raised up her hands and screamed. They were covered in blood. Then suddenly, more blood creeped over her and they froze into ice, sticking Ty Lee to the ground.

Haine had used her own blood to make a water whip to trip the girl.

Zuko looked on in half disgust and amazement but was pulled sharply out of his reverie when a whip of blood soared at him. He thrust up his hand to blast fire and the blood veered off course and headed for Mai who was trying to free Ty.

The whip whacked the knife Mai was using to chip the iced blood out of her hands and then formed ice manacles around them. While she twisted around, trying to free her hands, Haine grunted softly and forced the earth to come up and trap Mai's feet.

Zuko turned on the girl and blasted more fire at her, frustrated that his two teammates were immobilized. The girl's complexion was now pale and chalky due to the blood loss but her eyes danced merrily. She waved at him, the blood encasing her arms and forming two thin tentacles.

Zuko threw his leg up and swung it down hard on the ground in a split, sending fire at her. Her right arm shot out, shooting her blood and freezing his fire. His eyes panicked as he saw the crimson ice quickly creeping towards him.

He pulled himself up, preparing to shoot more blasts at her with his arms when he saw flashes of red shooting towards him. Before he even had time to react, his left knee bent and sent him crashing down.

Haine had pierced his leg with her needles, shutting down his chi points, paralyzing his leg like she had done to Mai's arms.

Zuko pushed himself up on his arms and right leg. This time, he was able to evaporate the set of needles headed for him with his fire.

He sent a huge blast of fire at the girl directly ahead of him. Haine extracted a bit more blood out of her open wounds and then threw them towards the incoming fire, sending smoke all over in front of Zuko, obstructing his vision.

He blasted through the smoke, clearing it, but by the time he had, the girl was already gone.

-

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-

Kaito had reached the ocean but found that their boat was gone.

Damn, Fire Nation somehow knew we were coming, he thought. He turned to see if he could steal a boat but found Sokka, the boy from the water tribes.

His eyes narrowed. "I don't want to fight you," he warned.

Sokka, gasping for breath did not answer, his hands on his knees huffing and puffing. Momo hovered over him, also a little out of breath.

Kaito watched amusedly until Sokka had finally gained his breath. Kaito casually whistled.

"So…I heard you are the biggest eater in your water tribe," Kaito said mockingly. He held back a chuckle as he watched Sokka's skin slowly turn red. A tick appeared on Sokka's head as he tilted it up to glare at the offending boy.

Sokka decided to ignore that and after finally catching his breath, said, "I see you have no ship."

Kaito immediately tensed and narrowed his eyes at the other water tribe boy. "So? My and Haine can waterbend our way back to our water tribe."

Sokka stared at him. "You're bluffing right?"

Kaito deflated a little. It was a big statement. Haine was already exhausted and it was a long way home. He debated for a while.

"What's it to you?" he asked Sokka uncomfortably.

Sokka sighed. "Look, my sister and I, and that earthbender Toph…we just want to help you guys. Well, actually, we want you guys to help us, 'cause you see how we're in the middle of a war?"

Kaito remained silent.

Sokka sighed again. "So, our friend was the Avatar, but…he died. He was an airbender."

Kaito's eyes widened. "He…he died?"

Sokka nodded sadly, looking down. "Yeah, I really miss him."

Kaito looked down also. "Looks like I'm the last airbender," he muttered.

Sokka looked up. "What did you say? Did you just say you're an airbender?!" Sokka exclaimed.

Kaito looked at his excited eyes. "…Yeah."

Sokka's eyes popped wide. "Wh-wh…How is that even possible? Fire Nation wiped out the entire air nomads race!"

Kaito nodded. "Well, I'm half an airbender. Like Haine's half a…" he trailed off. Sokka looked at him questioningly. "My great grandfather was an airbender, and it looks like I inherited his powers."

Sokka's eyes popped even wider. "WHOA!! THAT IS SO FREAKING COOL!" he boomed.

Kaito cringed away. Sokka quickly got back on topic. "Well, anyway, that's even better! See, our friend, he said that your friend is kinda like the avatar. She can bend all four elements right?"

"Well…" Kaito deliberated, thinking of Haine's battle.

"Well, she can help us win the war! You can help us! Don't you want to get back at Fire Nation for what they did to your ancestors?"

Kaito nodded. "Well…I'll think about it. But, do you think you could give us a ride back to our water tribe?"

Sokka nodded. At that moment, Haine burst into the scene, her arms, red tentacles. Her skin was very pale now and her breathing was ragged. She saw Sokka and immediately shifted into a fighting stance, her legs wobbling.

Kaito hurried to her. "Haine, it's okay. Our boat's gone, somehow they knew we were coming, but this guy here says he can help us."

Sokka nodded helpfully. Haine looked at him and then nodded reluctantly. They didn't really have a choice. Her tentacles disappeared, blood splashing down. Sokka cringed away. Haine fell back against Kaito's solid form and he picked her up gently, her head lolling limply against his shoulder.

"It's okay, just some blood loss. I need to rest," Haine reassured her friend. "We better hurry, the firebender might catch up soon," she said to Sokka.

Sokka took out his bison whistle and blew hard. A few moments later, Appa came, landing next to Sokka. Sokka patted his fur once and then turned to help the pair up, only to find Kaito using his airbending to land softly on Appa.

Sokka looked on in amazement. He hadn't seen airbending for a long time. He smiled sadly as he thought of Aang and then quickly climbed on to the sky bison.

"Yip yip, Appa!"

-

-

-

Katara and Toph arrived onto the scene a little bit late, seeing smoke and fallen boulders littering the ground. They heard Zuko cursing loudly.

Zuko was so bewildered. He hadn't believed that girl could airbend, let alone _earthbend_. And she waterbended with her own blood. He shivered. It was an unpleasant thought and the girl was sure to be suffering from blood loss.

However, he hadn't captured her and he cursed his luck. How could the two airbend? Was the next avatar? No, it wasn't possible. Azula had killed Aang when he was in his Avatar state. That meant no more avatars would be reborn.

So how could they airbend? He pondered this as he slowly, painstakingly worked to free his comrades from their icy, bloody chains.

Toph smiled. "I guess that means they got away."

Katara's expression was grim, however. "Yeah, they got away, but now we lost them too," she said.

Toph shrugged and the two of them quickly fled the battle grounds before the prince or his teammates could discover them.

When they reached the spot they had parted with Sokka, he was no where to be seen.

Toph sighed exasperatedly. "That good for nothing dumbbell," she complained.

Then, a gust of wind sent their hair whipping around them. When the two looked up, they saw Appa landing. Sokka waved at them. "What was that, Toph?" he asked.

When the two had climbed on to Appa, they saw what Sokka was so elated about.

The waterbenders had decided to join them.


	5. Breached

Somehow, you had gotten past my iron-strong defenses and destroyed me from the inside out.

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After much hard work, we are proud to present

**zwischen **

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Kaito fluttered nervously over Haine as she worked on healing her cuts. It was really no big deal but Kaito filled the role of a worried mother hen very well and Haine was grateful for someone to block her view of the other group member, Sokka who had been staring incredulously at her. He seemed to have trouble digesting the idea that she could bend blood.

Her teeth gritted a bit in pain. She was so tired and the burn in her chest was becoming more intense, fighting her healing.

She had finished by the time the others came. Kaito left her side to join Sokka in helping the other two up.

When Katara and Toph boarded Appa, they were speechless. Kaito winked and them and Sokka beamed.

"Ahem. Good for nothing here just convinced these two chumps to tag along!" Sokka boasted. "What have you got to say now, Toph?"

Toph shrugged and then punched Sokka on the shoulder. Appa turned to the right when Sokka jerked the reins, affected by Toph's punch. "OW!!"

Toph grinned. "Nice going, Sokka," she admitted. He glared but then gave up when he realized it wasn't going to do anything.

Katara kept staring at the two newcomers. "How did you convince them to come, Sokka?" Sokka grinned.

"Well," he drew the word out. "All it took was some ingenious thinking, speed of light running, really good luck and Kaito here is the man!" Sokka said. Kaito clapped him on the shoulder and beamed at him. Sokka beamed back.

Toph almost gagged at the man love.

Sokka and Kaito had somehow bonded real nicely. Maybe it was the fact that Kaito appreciated Sokka's humor. Or maybe, finally Sokka had found a male buddy to talk and relate to after Aang.

Kaito spoke up. "Our boat we used to come here was taken by Fire Nation. Somehow, they knew we were coming. So my man here offered us a ride." Sokka nodded. "Hey, but remember, you gotta help us out too," he reminded Kaito.

Kaito started to nod but then glanced back at Haine. Haine deliberated for a moment and then decided to go along with Kaito. She nodded slightly at him. He smiled.

Kaito explained to the group where they were headed; the Northern Water Tribes to tell their people the invasion would not happen and they could return back home. However, Katara was not so sure.

She opened her mouth to speak but Haine beat her to it. "Kaito, I think the people we fought will come looking for us," she said quietly. Katara nodded grimly.

Toph sighed. "Yup, that's Zuko for you. He'll track you down to the ends of the earth just to gain his honor."

"They sure to know that we're headed for the water tribes and they're probably guessing the Northern one since our Southern Water Tribe is still trying to rebuild itself," Sokka reasoned.

"We're going to the Northern Water Tribe. Our tribe is still finding refuge there. Haine said that Fire Nation was planning to invade ours so they fled to the Northern tribe when we left," Kaito explained.

Sokka also sighed. "Katara, what should we do?"

Katara was about to discuss what their plans should be for fighting Fire Nation until she saw Haine sitting uncomfortably away from the group. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her chest and her knees were bent towards herself. She seemed very tired and was casting wary glances at the group. The small girl's gaze landed longingly on her friend, Kaito before they shifted back to hers.

She gave a tentative smile and Katara's heart gave a sort of twang. She felt a little sorry for the girl. Katara returned the smile. "I think we should introduce each other first," she said. And then she sat herself down next to Haine, untangling the smaller girl's arms and taking her hand.

"Hi, I'm Katara. I'm sorry we followed you before, but we really needed your help. And I have a feeling we can help you too."

Haine's wariness was outweighed by her tiredness and she gave into the bubbly feeling inside her. She liked this girl. She clasped the girl's hands who held hers.

"My name is Haine," she said with a cute grin. "Your necklace is beautiful. Are you getting married?" she asked excitedly.

Katara smiled. It had seemed before that this girl was very wary of them, but now she seemed to have deemed them on her side. Her talkativeness was leaking out and her eccentric personality was showing through.

The group shared introductions. Katara and Toph were eager to learn how the two had escaped from Zuko but Haine seemed reluctant to share.

"The air was so dry today; I was having trouble waterbending with only water from the fountain!" Katara exclaimed. "How did you do it? Oh! Did you earthbend? And airbend? Because Toph and I saw these rocks all over the place! And our friend…" she trailed off, still hurt over the mention of Aang.

Kaito laughed at her excitedness. "Haine and I can airbend," he explained.

Katara's eyes popped wide and Toph's ears twitched, interested. "Wh—what? Both of you can airbend?" Kaito nodded, smiling. "Because, we were only told that…only Haine could…"

Kaito put on a mock look of hurt. "Aww, I'm sad you all think of me as unable."

He laughed at their astonished faces. Haine smiled fondly. She was about to explain when Sokka cut in.

"Kaito's great grand father was an airbender," he said, glad that he had known first. "I saw him airbend with my own eyes."

_We will meet again_

Katara smiled sadly. Maybe Aang was right. I did find a piece of him here, with Haine and Kaito.

"So, did you have a great grandfather that was an airbender too?" Katara asked Haine.

Haine shifted uncomfortably. "Uh…noo, I can only airbend becau—"

Toph cut in, interested in learning how the girl could earthbend. She wasn't an avatar, it should be impossible to learn to earthbend when she was born solely as a waterbender. "How can you earthbend, Haine?"

Haine smiled. "Well, it took some time to learn…but I found that everything is connected. There's water almost everywhere, in the air, in the trees, and even in the earth."

Toph's eyes widened. "I see. You can see the water in the ground and manipulate it, at the same time, forcing the earth to move also. That's similar to how I learned metal bending! I can see the impurities and force the earth inside the metal to move, moving the metal!"

Haine's mouth dropped open. "Amazing! WOW! You're like the greatest earthbender ever! WOW! You can metalbend?!"

Toph smirked and nodded. "So that's how you airbend too, right? You see the water in the air and force the air to move along with the water."

Haine nodded. "It's tiring though. Earth is so resistant and air is too non-resistant. I can't do a lot of bending that way. I can only waterbend without wasting a lot of energy."

Katara marveled. "Wow, that's amazing! To be able to bend earth, air, and water! So can you firebend? The last avatar, he said you could bend all four elements, but…" she trailed off, his words mysterious and hard to understand. "…He said you had a fire within you…"

Haine stiffened and Kaito quickly stepped in. "Haine can, but she doesn't like to." Haine nodded her agreement.

"Why?" Toph asked, questioningly. Haine did not answer. Finally, Kaito decided to persuade her. He crawled closer to her and took her two hands, coaxing her to look at him.

"Haine-chan, if we want to help these people, you have to explain to them. Haine, they might be able to help you."

She stared mutely at him.

He sighed. "Haine-chan. Remember I told you not to keep things to yourself? That's what friends are for! And Katara and Toph and Sokka, I'm sure they want to help you too, just like me."

Toph inclined her head slightly and Katara nodded. "Haine, our destiny is to help each other," she said.

Haine pulled her hands away from Kaito. "I don't want your help," she said quietly, turning away from the group.

There was an awkward silence that followed and nobody spoke. Finally, they heard Haine give a tiny sigh. She turned to them, a hesitant expression on her face.

"Don't take it the wrong way, I really appreciate it but…"

She sighed again.

"I don't like firebending because it's so easy to hurt the people you love."

Katara's eyes widened. Haine looked away, her expression downcast.

"Firebending…it took away two people I loved."

The little girl pulled her knees up to her chest, hiding her face behind them. Katara smiled gently and came to her side.

"Haine…my friend, Aang, he was the recent avatar. He was scared to firebend too because he accidently burned me when he did. But what he didn't realize was that firebending could help us win this war! Firebending could save your people," Katara said with emotion.

Haine regarded the girl carefully and sighed. "I'm sorry about your friend."

Katara immediately turned downcast and nodded sadly but then looked back at Haine. "I'm sorry about yours. But…Haine, you could help us so much. Please, won't you give it a shot?" Katara pleaded.

Haine's eyes darkened and Kaito quickly stepped in.

"Uh…let's talk about this later, when we get back to the water tribe," he said, glancing nervously at Haine's descending mood.

Katara looked at him incredulously and then turned to Haine again. "Haine, come on. The world is depending on you!"

Toph and Sokka nodded.

Haine's breath started coming heavier, her whole body starting to tremble. She brought her hands up to cover her ears and shut her eyes tightly. Besides the group's chants of 'Haine' she could hear other voices.

_Mother_

_Father_

And she had to choose.

When she opened her eyes, Katara shrank back a little at the fierce determination behind her eyes. She swore mentally that she saw a spark of fire. Haine turned to them.

"I'm sorry, but I need to think about it."

Then she abruptly stood up with careful grace and retreated to the other side of Appa. There she sat alone until Kaito came up to her, putting his arms around her shoulders.

He knew this was not an easy decision for Haine to make and he felt sorry for her that the group was already pressuring her to firebend.

But secretly down inside, he wanted her to firebend. He wanted payback from Fire Nation and he knew with Haine's power, they would certainly gain revenge. He flinched afterwards about his thoughts.

He knew that Haine disliked his motives. She was reluctant to fight Fire Nation. He understood why.

He felt her form relax slowly against his as she fell asleep. His eyes narrowed, surveying her body. She was able to let the blood reenter her body but her body wasn't taking it very well. It's very hard to force blood back in the wrong way.

Her face was still very pale. Kaito watched her sleep. She had never been at peace, even when sleeping. Her eyes were always tilted down, her lips too straight and her breathing too quick. Sleep to her was always a nightmare.

He stroked her face softly and her expression relaxed slightly.

_I'll stick with you to the end, Haine-chan._

-

-

-

Sleep softly, dream pleasantly, think of me, always, always. We can only meet in dreams, too dangerous to love in reality.

-

-

-

Zuko's fist slammed against the table, the teacups teetering dangerously.

Mai sighed impatiently and Ty Lee's eyes went from the two of them, biting her nails nervously.

Zuko was angry beyond compare. How was it possible that the three of them were beaten by two _peasants?_ His fists trembled.

"Zuko, don't be mad, they were very strong," Mai said softly, trying to get him to stop moping.

"Azula would have stopped them," he said through his teeth.

"Azula, Azula, Azula. Really Zuko, can you stop trying to be like her? She creeps me out," Mai said with a hint of impatience.

"Well at least she can get things done!" Zuko thundered, disappointed in himself.

"That's right, Zuko."

Three heads whirled to see Azula entering the room, her face a picture of triumph.

Zuko quickly looked away, not wanting to see his sister's gloating face.

She smirked at him and then surveyed the room.

"Are you guys up for a rematch?"

-

-

"Both of them are very advanced in their waterbending and both of them can airbend. The little girl can earthbend but that won't be a help in the water tribes," Zuko said, reluctantly feeding Azula information about the waterbenders.

Azula's brow lifted in interest.

"She can bend earth, air, and water?"

Zuko jerked his head down.

"Amazing. Could she possibly be the avatar?" She mused.

Zuko looked at her and then shook his head. "She can't firebend, I'm sure. Also, she tires greatly when she airbends and earthbends."

Azula nodded. "That's right. I killed the avatar in his avatar state. There's no way another one was reborn."

She smiled wickedly to herself then glanced over at Zuko who was staring at her. He quickly looked away.

"Something on your mind, Zuzu?" she asked amusedly.

He kept quiet for a while and then asked, "Why are we going after them again? They aren't avatar, why do you want to capture them so bad? They've already left Fire Nation."

She stared incredulously at him. "They're obviously a threat to the Fire Nation, Zuko. I can't believe you're stupid enough to not go after them."

"They didn't want to fight us," he said quietly.

She stared at him.

"Have you gone soft, Zuko?"

He turned and glared at her. "The waterbenders of the Northern Tribe are strong, Azula. You want to waste lives over capturing the water tribe? We can do that during the comet! Why do it now? It's obviously a close battle, a lot of men are going to pay," Zuko exclaimed, never liking the idea of wasting human lives.

He was reminded of the time he spoke out against his father when he was young, resulting in his banishment and painful scar.

Azula stared at him. "You have gone soft," she rebuked.

She turned away and continued. "Those waterbenders are strong and they pose a threat to our plan in taking over the world. If they team up with the avatar's buddies, they may be a large obstacle in our plan. You said so yourself, they are very powerful."

Zuko sighed, realizing the logic in her words.

"Besides, I haven't had a real challenge in so long. The avatar was too easy to take down. I hope this girl poses more as a threat," Azula said gloatingly, eager to fight the girl who could bend three elements.

Uncle Iroh's words suddenly popped into Zuko's mind and he abruptly voiced them out loud.

"Be careful what you wish for."

Azula turned to glare at him but he was already gone, heading down to his cabin. She shrugged and then smiled. Soon, they would reach the Northern Water Tribe and she would capture both the waterbenders and their pathetic nation.

The redcoats are coming.

-

-

-

Red, the color of roses, red, the color of blood. White, the color of pureness, white, our divine God. Save us please, from our dark, twisted love.

-

-

-

Haine looked on in concern at the Northern Water Tribe. Katara had said some of the very advanced waterbenders like Master Pakku had left for the Southern Water Tribe. They would be missing some men in the oncoming fight.

And she was sure there was going to be one.

They had arrived already and had been preparing already for a few days. Sokka was sure Fire Nation would land very soon. He said to watch for black snow. Haine had tried unsuccessfully to get the group to leave, to lead the Fire Nation away from the water tribes but they had refused.

It looked like even if she didn't want to be involved in the war, she would have to fight anyway to protect the water tribe.

She looked at the waterbenders preparing for the inevitable battle that she had brought upon them and she felt her heart sink. She thought of all the people who would die in the battle and her blood burned with increasing fury.

Her fists clenched tightly and she was surprised at how angry she felt. The burn in her chest grew more intense and she could barely hold her angry in.

She remembered why she left in the first place. To protect Kaito. He can not die.

She felt as if one slight push, she would explode.

She quickly turned and went to the group.

"Let's leave," she said in a quiet voice.

Katara stared at her. "Why, Haine? We've been over this. We're prepared, we can take them. It's our home front, they don't know the terrain and we can win."

Haine felt as if she would go mad. Her voice rose in anger. "We can't take them! Firebenders are too strong! You want these people to die in vain?" she asked incredulously.

She turned to Kaito. "That's why I went to Fire Nation in the first place. I didn't want them to come after us because I didn't want to drag our family into this. Your family, Kaito. Your people."

Kaito looked at her. "They're your people too, Haine. And they will die eventually when Fire Nation takes them over. Don't think if you leave, they'll follow you. Sokka's told me. They tried to invade before and they'll try again. Why not help while we can?" Kaito tried to reason with her.

Her eyes burned and she quickly looked away in shame.

_Kaito…_

She remembered the vision of Kaito lying still, pale, not breathing. Her breath caught in her throat and she could not breathe herself. She almost choked on her fear.

_I'm a coward_

Katara put her hand on Haine's shoulder. "It'll be fine, Haine. Have more faith in us, in yourself. Kaito says you are very strong."

Haine shook her hand off and shifted away.

"You don't know me," she said quietly.

"You don't understand what I could lose here. What I will lose."

Katara stared at her questioningly, not understanding. Haine struggled to keep down her anger, her grief. She turned to Kaito pleadingly, looking at him. What she saw made her even sadder.

She inhaled shakily and finally calmed, her cold blood dousing her fire.

"Kaito."

A white snowflake floated down past between them and she stared at him. She put her hand out and the snowflake drifted onto her hand.

He looked at her in concern, longing, wanting for her to say yes.

A black snowflake landed on top on the white one, engulfing it and drowning it. She clenched her fist and dropped her hand limply to her side.

Her eyes burned golden and her face turned cold as a horn sounded a warning. Her eyes were unwavering while outside was chaos caused by the arrival of the firebenders. He watched curiously as she stood small and still amidst the shower of black snow.

"Don't die."

A whisper, a prayer, a broken promise.

-

-

-

The redcoats are here.


End file.
